This invention relates generally to an endoluminal prosthesis and particularly to a endoluminal prosthesis having a fenestration that is implantable within the human or animal body for the repair of damaged vessels, ducts or other physiological passageways and cavities, and systems and methods for facilitating deployment of such an endoluminal prosthesis.
The physiological passageways and cavities of human and animal bodies, for example, blood vessels and ducts, occasionally weaken or even rupture. One common surgical intervention for weakened, aneurysmal or ruptured passageways or ducts involves the use of an endoluminal prosthesis to provide some or all of the functionality of the original, healthy passageway or duct and/or to preserve any remaining vascular integrity by replacing a length of the existing passageway or duct wall that spans the site of failure or defect. Endoluminal prostheses may be of a unitary construction or may be comprised of multiple prosthetic modules.
A modular prosthesis allows a surgeon to accommodate a wide variation in vessel morphology while reducing the necessary inventory of differently sized prostheses. For example, aortas vary in length, diameter and angulation between the renal artery region and the region of the aortic bifurcation. Prosthetic modules that fit each of these variables can be assembled to form a prosthesis, obviating the need for a custom prosthesis or large inventories of prostheses that accommodate all possible combinations of these variables. A modular system may also accommodate deployment options by allowing the proper placement of one module before the implantation of an adjoining module.
Generally, when deploying an endovascular prosthesis into a body lumen, it is possible to obtain access to such a body lumen from each end of the lumen where necessary, thereby facilitating placement of a device in the lumen. There can be problems, however, if the aneurysm of the aorta extends down into one or other of the iliac arteries. Each of the common iliac arteries branches into the internal and external iliac arteries and it is necessary in such a situation that a blood flow path can be directed through an endovascular stent graft into each of these arteries. The internal iliac artery which extends from the common iliac artery below the aortic bifurcation is for all intents and purposes a blind vessel because there is no practical way of performing an endovascular minimally invasive procedure into that vessel other than by entry from the common iliac artery.